Albert boschke



ALBERT BOSCHKE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 82,376, dated September 22, 1868.

IMPROVED DREDGING-MAHINE.

digs Stiphnhtterreh tn in time trtters atent 2mn mating nett. nf the same.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY OONCERN;

Be it known that` I, ALBERT BoscHxE, of Boston, in the county of Suolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Dredging-Machinesg'and I dohereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawin'gs'which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to ena'ble those skilledin the art to practise it. i Y i i My improved dredging-machine is especially-designed for operating on hard bottom,'such as cannot well be removed by the ordinary dredging-machines employing only the well-known system of buckets or scoops moved by anv cndless'chain.

It is also designed for operation in deep water, where dredging-machines employing'a scoop or bucket alone, on the end of a lever, vby which the said scoop or bucketis thrust against and into the bottom, and is then elevated, fail to act efficiently, by reason of the great amount of power lost or no,n.utililzed,`when, as in deep water, the lifting-chain forms an acute angle with the scoop-lever, so that vmore power is expended on the resisting fulcrum ofthe scoop-lever than is utilized in lifting the bucket with its load.

In all previous submarine excavators or dredging-machines, so far 2as I am informed, the implements by which the material of the bottom is loosened act intermittently, but in my invention the loosening-implement acts continuously, and theloosened material is elevated by a separate instrumentality.

In my invention, I make use of what may be termed a plow, inasmuch as it operates to loosen the earthymaterial ofthe bottom, which plow is peculiar, in that it is of a scoop or hood-form, having what may be called 'a back, sides, and bottom, between whichbdundaries the material which the plow loosens is received, andis confined till conveyed out of said boundaries by an elevator.

My invention consists in the combination of three elements or instrumentalities, a oating hull, a plow, and an elevator, whemthese are combined and arranged to operatextogether substantially as follows:

The hull, which is designed to contain ecient and powerful engines and boilers,'has a. scoop-plow, with. sides, back, and bottom, which plow is so arranged that it may be adjusted to anydistance from the bottom, within reasonable limits, and the elevator, which consists of a series of buckets borne upon an endless chain, hasits upper bight pass over a roller made secure to the hull above water, while the lower bight passes over a roller pivoted in the sides of the plow, so that the eievator always conforms to changes in the position ofthe plow, and the buckets of elevator always, when in motion, enter between the boundaries of the plow, and remove the material which accumulates therein as the hull is drawn forward, carrying with it the plow. v

The drawingshows, in sectional elevation, adredging-machine embodying my invention, in which machine a denotes the lever-borne scoop-plow.

b b represent the buckets, which are mounted on an endless'chain, c, which passes over rollers, one at each end of frame d, and others located in the frame between the end rollers.

The upper roller e and the lower roller f are polygonal, to suit the links of the chain, afterthe mannerA of sprocket-wheels, and thev intermediate or supporting-rolls are cylindrical. n

The movement of the chain-borne buckets is effected by power vapplied tothe shaft g, on which the upper roller c is mounted, andthe frame d swings as an arm on the axis of said shaft, so that the lower end of the frame can be made to assume any position desired, the shaftg being mounted in suitable bearings on the hull z, which is made with anopening through it, for the passage, and the elevation and depression of the dredgingmachinery, and which has suliicient buoyancy to sustain the weight thereof, and the weight ofthe engines, boilers, fuel, he

The plow a is made with Astrong projections or teeth and with a hood, and is pivot-ed, by straps c, to the shaft Z, on which the roller fturns, said straps being made adjustable, so that the distance between the hood and the chain-buckets can be suited to the requirements ofthe work to be performed.

The angle at which the teeth z', orthe cutting o'r operating-edge of the bucket a, is presented to the bottom, is regulated by adjustment of the straps m.

To thrust the plow dow`n against thebottom, the lever n is pivoted to a, and a chain, o, made fast to each end of the lever, passes around the windlass in, so that, by turning the windlass in the direction indicated bythe arrow on the drawing, the vlever n is drawn downward. n

The plow a is attached to the windlass g by the chain fr, so that the plow and the lower end of frame UZ can be raised and lowered by working windlass g, windlassp being also worked in conjunction.

In dredging, two moored scows are employed, one before, and the other behind the dredging-machine, and

a chain or chains, extending from one scow to the other, pass around a. windlass on the dredging-machine, which windlass is strongly and slowlyv operated by power applied`to said windlass, so that the dredging-machine is moved over the place to be dredged.

The proper adjustments of the plow d, as to depth, and as to its angle, and its distance from the shaft l, being made, the bucket-chain c is set in motion, and the dredging-machine is started in motion from the rearward scow toward the forward scow, and thus a kind of ditch is excavated, the material from which is delivered, by the buckets b, into a chute, e, in a perfectly obvious manner, the chute delivering the material into a scow, which is lashed alongside the dredging-machine. n

After the dredging-machine'reaches the forward scow, it is, by operation of the propelling-windlass, before mentioned, hauled back' to the rearward scow, and, if it is'desired to deepen the ditch already made, the plow is thrust down by operation of windlass p, and the before-described operation is repeated.

To widen the ditch or channel made, the dredging-machine is set over to the right or left, in any convenient manner, and the dredging-operationis continued, as before described, and when the cnt made by the dredgingmachine is to be lengthened, then the position of the moored scows is changed, as it must also be if the width of theexcavation is considerable.

I claim a dredging or excavating-machine, in which are combined a floating hull, a. plow or scoop a, and elevating-buckets, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

ALBERT BOSCHKE.

Witnesses:

J. B. CROSBY',

FRANCIS GoULD. 

